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UN: Destruction of Ramadi worse than anywhere in Iraq

UN assessment shows almost 2,000 buildings as well as main hospital and train station completely destroyed by fighting.

04 Mar 2016 19:30 GMT

UN analysis of satellite imagery showed thousands of buildings in Ramadi and its outskirts had been damaged since mid-2014 [AP]

Destruction in Ramadi is "staggering" and worse than anywhere else in Iraq, according to a UN team that concluded the first assessment visit to the city since Iraqi forces recaptured large parts of it from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

The UN team said on Friday the city's main hospital and train station had been destroyed along with thousands of other buildings.

UN analysis of satellite imagery last month showed nearly 5,700 buildings in Ramadi and its outskirts had been damaged since mid-2014. Almost 2,000 had been completely destroyed.

Local officials said 64 bridges and much of the electricity grid had been ruined.

Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital where around half a million people once lived, was lost to ISIL in May 2015. The US-led coalition carried out more than 600 air strikes in the area from July to December last year.